- What is a parlay?: A parlay is a type of wager that allows bettors to combine multiple individual bets into a single ticket, boosting the earning potential of a ticket at the cost of greatly increasing the risk. Should one bet lose, the entire ticket is lost.
- PFF empowers winning decisions: Stay tuned for more PFF betting tools soon to be introduced to all PFF+ subscribers.
- Subscribe to PFF+: Get access to player grades, PFF Premium Stats, fantasy football rankings, all of the PFF fantasy draft research tools and more!
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
After walking through how you can get started betting on NFL games via the spread and props, it’s time to explore, without a doubt, the most popular trend in sports betting: the high-risk, high-reward world of parlays.
This is your guide to understanding what a parlay is and how to take advantage of them for the 2025 NFL season.
Lines courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook & DraftKings Sportsbook
What is a parlay?
A parlay is a wager type that allows bettors to combine multiple individual bets into a single ticket, boosting the earning potential of a ticket at the cost of greatly increasing the risk.
The catch: Unlike betting each pick separately, where losing a single bet doesn’t affect the others, combining picks into a parlay takes an all-or-nothing approach. Should one bet lose, the entire ticket is lost.
Sportsbooks can offer up parlays through a single game and across multiple games, and they can even branch into other leagues and sports. Whatever you’re willing to link together in a parlay, a book is generally willing to offer – with some exceptions.
Let’s take a look at some examples from Week 1 of the NFL season.
Multi-game parlay
Say we are targeting two games and have a $100 budget.
- Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles (-6.5)
- Cincinnati Bengals (-5.5) at Cleveland Browns
Had we taken these games separately and won each:
- Eagles (-120) for $50 would win $41.67
- Bengals (-115) for $50 would win $43.48
- For a total of $85.14 won on risking $100
Had we parlayed these games together and won each:
- Risking $100 would result in $242.75 in winnings
Again, the catch is that both games MUST win in order for the parlay to pay out. Whereas betting the games separately mitigates the risk, allowing for you to still come away with some money should a game not go your way.
Same-game parlay
Same-game parlays offer bettors the opportunity to flex their knowledge of the NFL script within a single contest. While not every wager opportunity is allowed to be bundled together into a single-game parlay, sportsbooks can offer a variety of selections ranging from game spreads and totals to player props and game props.
Here we took:
- Eagles -7 (-110)
- Saquon Barkley Anytime TD (-205)
- A.J. Brown 80 or more Receiving Yards (+120)
- Dak Prescott 250 or more Passing Yards (-117)
- At (+950), a $100 wager would pay out $950 if each leg is successful
While on the surface that may look like a no-brainer for a huge payout, keep in mind that a single injury or bad call could potentially tank the entire ticket.
Word to the wise
Betting on individual game spreads, totals and props is a more measured and calculated method to bet on NFL games; however, parlays can be used as a way to strategically create longer odds on picks a bettor is more certain of.
But don’t be fooled by the posts on social media of 12-leg parlays turning $1 into thousands. That is incredibly difficult to hit and should be viewed as the exception, not the rule.
Like all bets, parlays should be taken from a measured approach, calculating the substantial risk against the reward.
Ready to roll
With that, you’re all set with the foundation to attack the betting markets for the 2025 NFL Season.
At the forefront of where NFL data meets NFL betting, PFF empowers winning decisions, so be sure to check out all of the insight from the entire team all season long.
Stay tuned for more PFF betting tools soon to be introduced to all PFF+ subscribers.
© 2025 PFF - all rights reserved.